


The Leap

by Happyorogeny



Series: The Illidari [12]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen, Injury, heights, jumping, procrastination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 12:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happyorogeny/pseuds/Happyorogeny
Summary: Falara is Absolutely Not scared of heights. That would be Silly.





	The Leap

Folks called the demon hunters dramatic, but this was because they lacked Context for the Situation. Falara wasn’t screeching in the night to wake them up, fox example. She was simply trying to communicate with the Illidari over at Vengeance point while simultaneously reminding any demon nearby that she was alive and would tear their entrails out.

She was simply being Efficient.

And at this moment she was just taking her time about things. No urgency. No need to hurry. She wasn’t stuck on the roof of this crumbling old temple, no, that would be foolish. She was an Illidari, after all, the wind was her ally and the sky her friend! It was just that-

Falara had never had a great head for heights. It wasn’t that she was scared of them, as such, just Wobbly. No harm in that, even if she’d had to box Tylus’s ears a time or three for teasing her.

But with her right wing still bandaged, her not-fear of heights had returned with a vengeance.

She dug her claws into the window frame and stuck out her tongue to test the wind. She wasn’t delaying her descent or anything. She just needed a few moments to Prepare, that was all. Kor’vas would scold her for wandering off from the recovery tent, but it was boring there! Kayn wouldn’t even bring her a clipboard so that she could count their bandages, he insisted she rest. But she was hungry! She had intended to go visit Sally’s Travelling Feast down on the main road for both sympathy and a bacon sandwich.

But this secluded moon tower was one of the few she hadn’t explored. They often proved to have valuable documents or artifacts tucked away in ancient drawers or secret compartments. Most of the spirits in the Isles had been captured in soul engines or moved on to the next world, although some old priestesses would bristle forwards when she strayed too close to scared chambers or long-dry moonwells. They were a sad apparition, whispering threats as they hovered over their crumbled skeletons. These poor Kaldorei hadn’t had a hope against a demon, no more than she had before her rebirth.

She always promised them she would avenge them. Maybe some part of them knew reason yet, and could see she told the truth.

In the case of this tower, the ghost had challenged her proper and she had fled rather than harm the phantom. Hence her current Predicament. The spiral staircase had crumbled beneath her feet and left her clinging to this marble ledge. While it was wide enough for her to stand on and presented a fine prospect over the Broken Shore, Falara had Places to Be and Food to Devour.

Surely a temple of Elune ought to have endured through time and tempest both? Kaldorei built to last. But the influence of fel was a pervasive thing, eating through earth and stone alike.

She braced herself and stretched her right wing, slowly and painfully. Damn that felhound and its mane of spikes! Why, she hadn’t had such a mangling since her first week as an Illidari when she’d tripped over her glaives and near gutted herself. It refused to open fully for her, but perhaps she could launch herself into a crooked glide? No one had to see, after all.

This was very high up. She decided to rebraid her hair, so that the wind wouldn’t blow it into a mess.

She wasn’t hesitating, she was approaching the situation with Due Caution. The wind rolled right in off the ocean and would push her farther east than she wanted to go. Wait. That would bring her right into the warden camp, and they would Look at her, and Maiev might be there and she would Say Something and cause her great Alarum.

Falara decided to allow herself a good screech of annoyance. This was all very complicated when all she had wanted was a cup of tea!

Much to her surprise, something screeched back.

She leaned forwards and squinted, trying to discern a figure in the shadowy sky. Oh, there! Someone flying parallel to the tower, about a jump and a dash away from her. Now that wasn’t so very far away at all, or so very far a drop! And the griffin looked well large enough to carry her a short distance. There was a rider already aboard but she was sure they wouldn’t mind if she joined them for a while. Everyone knew that having an Illidari nearby was Lucky, for it discouraged demons.

Falara gathered herself and jumped.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this work please find me at https://happyorogeny.tumblr.com/


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